international travel with 18 mo old

acbfreire

DH and I are contemplating traveling abroad to visit family for xmas. By then, DD will be 18 mo. Can you please share some of your success stories/ advice? I do not want to pack up the whole house, but we need to figure a lot if stuff out (car seat, sleeping arrangements, what to bring on the plane, etc).

It is not a direct flight, but it is overnight. We have a 3h domestic + a 10 h international flight.

TIA

Pleione

Will she be a lap child, or will she have her own seat? If she has her own seat, you have the car seat versus Cares harness decision to make.

Perhaps take along lots of small distractions.... knick knacks from the $1 shop that will keep her amused for a while... a magazine to tear... bring a bag along for the garbage that will be generated.

Then there's the drug or not to drug discussion that you may want to have with her pediatrician.

dragon_chica

We took the kids to Asia this past Feb.  DS was almost 18 months.  Here's what worked for us:

- bringing a couple loveys and packing one in the carry-on just in case the primary one gets dirty (or missing, God forbid!)

- fruit pouches for takeoff, landing, and just anytime.  DS stopped nursing at 12 months and most of the takeoffs weren't during times when he needed a bottle so having the fruit pouches helped.

- we brought everything under the sun to entertain the two kids but what really kept them busy was the TV each passenger gets on the back of the seat and just a lot of walking around.

- if you can swing it get your LO a seat.  Although they still qualified to be a lap child by that age they're so squirmy.  DS was happy sitting in my lap while we watched movies but when he would get cranky it was nice to have that extra seat to spread out when needed.  Also, since we're a family of four we got the side section of 3 seats and then the fourth seat was across from us in the middle section.  DH and I would take turns getting a break and whoever was resting would sit in that separate seat to "be away" from the craziness.

- bring overnight diapers for the ride.  Unless LO poops you'll have to change the diaper less often.  12 hour guarantee, right!

- pack lots and lots of snacks.  even though international flights have snacks you can munch on sometimes it may not be toddler friendly.  It's best to bring familiar food that you know your LO will eat.  Always give the plane food a try before delving into your own food.

- We didn't bring a carseat and it took us a while to figure this out but this was a lifesaver.  DS wouldn't sleep on the seats with DD and it was a nightmare for a while holding him while he slept, which was sporadic.  I eventually created a makeshift bed on the floor of our seats.  I took most of our blankets and laid them out.  Put the pillows around the areas with metal.  I laid DS down and he eventually fell asleep.  I then used another blanket and tucked one end into the magazine holders on the back of the seats (you know, where the barf bags are) and created a tent-like feeling for him to block out the light and some noise.  Worked like a charm!

GL!